


A Valentine's Weekend

by vincentvandope



Series: Howlkyuu!! [8]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Gen, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:54:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29758554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vincentvandope/pseuds/vincentvandope
Summary: It’s the first Valentine’s Day for some couples, while for others, it could be their last. From new loves to childhood sweethearts, everyone is celebrating their love while the end of the school year looms ever closer.(part 8 of the Howlkyuu!! series. MANGA SPOILERS for what some of the third-years will do after graduation)
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Kozume Kenma/Kuroo Tetsurou, Kyoutani Kentarou/Yachi Hitoka, Miya Atsumu/Sakusa Kiyoomi, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Shimizu Kiyoko/Tanaka Ryuunosuke, Tanaka Saeko/Tsukishima Akiteru, Tendou Satori/Ushijima Wakatoshi, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Series: Howlkyuu!! [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2127321
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	1. Girls' Night In

Yachi and Kiyoko left their bikes outside the Tanaka residence and rang. “Make yourselves at home, girls! Happy Galentine’s Day!”

  
They walked through the door Saeko was holding open for them. Yachi had never been there before, so she followed Kiyoko to the living room, where the couch had been pushed to the wall and the floor was covered in mattresses, blankets and pillows.

  
“Okay, before we officially inaugurate girls’ night, I want to know what you’re doing tomorrow,” Saeko said, giving Kiyoko a judgmental glance. “Please tell me you’re doing something more interesting than just chilling at home like this one and my brother.”

  
“I think hanging out and eating chocolate is a cool date.” Kiyoko shrugged. “I don’t care much about Valentine’s Day anyway. But yeah, she has a really cute plan.”

  
Saeko started clapping. “Yes! Dish while I put the popcorn in the microwave!”

  
“Well, I suggested going on a biking date following the river, maybe going up to the castle or something,” Yachi explained, grabbing the bowls Kiyoko was handing her, “but it turns out that Kentaro never learned how to ride a bicycle, so I’m going to try to teach him and if it goes well, then we’ll do the date.”

  
“Alright, stop, first of all, we’re calling him Kentaro now?” She turned to Kiyoko and brought her hands to her heart, mouthing a silent ‘aaawww’. “And second. That’s the cutest shit I’ve ever heard! Is that why there are two bikes out there?”

  
“Yes, he’s picking me up here tomorrow.”

  
“Kiyoko, you should do that too!”

  
“Ryu can’t ride a bike?”

  
Saeko shook her head. “If our parents never got around to teaching me, I doubt they taught him.”

  
“You can’t ride a bike? But you’re teaching me to drive a motorcycle.”

  
“They’re very different.”

  
Saeko opened the microwave and Yachi took the bag out before she could. “We’re teaching you to ride a bicycle right now.”

  
“But popcorn!”

  
“Yachi’s right, let’s go,” said Kiyoko, taking her arm. Yachi finished pouring the popcorn in a bowl and took the other, and they led her outside.

  
“If I get hurt, I’m suing!” Despite all of her protests, she managed to do a lap around her home on her own in a matter of minutes. “Okay. Now you,” she pointed at Yachi, “are gonna learn how to ride a motorcycle.”

  
“What?” Yachi almost dropped the few kernels that remained. “No, no, now we get back in and start the movie marathon.”

  
“Nope. Kiyoko, tell her that it’s easy.”

  
She nodded encouragingly. “Really, it’s not hard.”

  
“It’s scary!”

  
Saeko raised an eyebrow. “A month ago you were all up in a psychopath’s business with threats and attitude without so much as flinching and you’re afraid of a motorcycle?”

  
“Well, I don’t have magical powers to help me drive motorcycles!”

  
“You have me! C’mon,” Saeko brought the vehicle to her, “up.” Yachi started to plead again, but she just laughed. “Get on! I told you I would toughen you up! What’s tougher than a chick on a motorcycle?”

  
Kiyoko lifted her up and sat her on it. "This is really high!" Saeko cackled like a maniac and climbed up behind her. She gave her one last chance to get down if she really wanted to, but Yachi decided she would try to be tough like them. She'd intimidated a nogistune and gotten herself out of a kidnapping. She could handle a motorcycle. The teacher ruffled her hair and drove out into the street. There were no cars driving by, and Yachi ended up not having such a bad time after all. They went pretty slow and she learned how to start, stop, and turn, and then Saeko demonstrated how to park it.

  
Kiyoko picked up the now empty bowl from the ground. “See? Wasn’t it cool?”

  
Her legs were a little shaky, but she was feeling giddy. “It was!”

  
“Whenever you want another lesson, you know where to come!”

  
“So what about you?” Yachi asked while they prepared more movie snacks. “Do you have plans for tomorrow? Are you dating anyone?”

  
“Nah, but I might go out. We’ll see.”

  
“You didn’t meet anyone you liked in college?”

  
Saeko laughed a little. “I didn’t try much. I was working and trying to graduate early to get a full-time job, so socializing wasn’t a priority. But there’s a lot of clubs doing Valentine’s Day tomorrow, so I’m thinking of dragging Ukai out to that. But it’s Galentine’s Day now! The next time anyone speaks, I better have a face mask on, let’s go!”

  
Face-masked and surrounded by their haul of chocolate and candy, they watched Mean Girls on Netflix. Yachi even tried the sangría Saeko had prepared. It was nothing like the alcohol she’d been offered at the Halloween party, and the purple wolfsbane flowers they’d added so Kiyoko could get buzzed too made it so pretty that Yachi even took a picture of her glass.

  
When the movie ended, Kiyoko said, “we have to do makeovers!”

  
“Yes!” Saeko got up excitedly. “Let’s go through my clothes and pick an outfit for Yachi!”

  
Kiyoko was already a little red from drinking, and the laughing made it even worse. “And you should try Yachi’s clothes! I’m sure she brought something cute for tomorrow, and I cannot picture you in cutesy clothes.”

  
“Yes!” Yachi was warming up to the idea. “You have to change too! Kiyoko in ripped jeans? Hello?”

  
“Get your bag and let’s go to my room!”

  
Something like an hour later they were sprawled on the living room again, choosing the next thing to watch. They’d had a photo session with Saeko looking all soft and flowery and Yachi and Kiyoko trying to act edgy, and now they were in their pajamas.

  
Saeko looked at her phone. “Perfect time to smoke. Kiyoko?”

  
“Sure.”

  
“Do you mind, Yachi? We can open the windows. Do you wanna try?”

  
“Um, it’s fine. And I’m fine. Thanks.”

  
“Are you sure?” She took two boxes from the TV stand, one labeled ‘R’ and the other one ‘S’, and picked up what looked like two hand-rolled cigarettes, one out of each. “I heard about your little accident on Halloween. Are you sure you don’t wanna try weed again?”

  
“Wait,” Yachi turned to Kiyoko, “you smoke?”

  
“Sure, on special occasions.”

  
“When she’s invited,” she handed her a joint and a lighter, “huh, princess?”

  
She smiled. “Well, it’d be rude to say no.”

  
“What do you say, Yachi?” Saeko held the other one to her.

  
“I promise it’s good when you don’t take too much.”

  
Yachi was a little scared, but she’d be lying to herself if she said she wasn’t curious. And she kind of didn’t want to be the only one not doing it. And that was the safest crowd to try it with. She looked at Kiyoko, then at Saeko, and then she accepted it. “Alright! You know how to smoke?”

  
“No?”

  
After some coughing, Yachi got used to it. She wasn’t feeling anything yet, but she felt cool. Rebellious. Not that she was rebelling against anyone or anything, but still. Like a movie main character.

  
“Hey, Yachi.” She turned to Kiyoko and got blinded by her phone’s flash.

  
“Did you take a picture of me smoking?”

  
“You look good, girl!” said Saeko from over Kiyoko’s shoulder.

  
“What if someone sees it?” Yachi went to look at it too. “Oh, my God, delete that!”

  
“Yachi, you know there’s one person who needs to see it. No one else will, but I do have a moral obligation to share this.”

  
“Please, don’t send it to Kentaro!”

  
“No,” she tapped her screen a couple times and Yachi hid her face against a cushion. “I didn’t mean him. And… he’s already calling.”

  
“Who are you-“

  
“Blondie!?” Kiyoko turned the phone around and Yachi found a very surprised Tendou staring at her. “Is that a weed?”

  
“Kiyoko! Now I’m never hearing the end of it!”

  
“Of course you’re not!” The image shook as he walked over to a different spot. “Hey, look at this!” Ushijima appeared and Yachi hid the joint behind her back instinctively. Tendou’s face was there again. “What’s your excuse? Even she’s smoking now!”

  
The screen blurred and focused on Ushijima’s face again. “Is it my fault? Did those brownies give you an addiction?”

  
“What? No! It’s just- I’m fine, don’t worry!”

  
He sighed. “Is it Tendou’s influence?”

  
“No,” Yachi thought about it, “maybe a little?”

  
“Tendou!”

  
“What? She’s cool as heck! You’re just boring.” He took the phone back and sat down. Yachi could see a bunk bed behind him. “So, what’s going on? Is this a party and I haven’t been invited?”

  
The girls sat behind Yachi to be on-screen too. “It’s girls’ night!”

  
“Can I come over?”

  
Saeko shook her head while she exhaled smoke towards the camera. “Sorry, honey, you’re not a lady.”

  
“But you love me! If you let me in, I’ll make brownies…”

  
“But you live so far away!” Yachi said, taking a drag, holding it a little, and blowing it out. Tendou pretended to wipe away tears. “How would you even get here?”

  
“You can pick him up!” Kiyoko minimized the call and went to her picture gallery. “Yachi learned how to drive a motorcycle! I’m sending you pictures, hold on.”

  
“You took pictures of me on the motorcycle too?”

  
“What? Maybe you wanted to show off!”

  
As soon as they were delivered, Tendou screamed and Ushijima asked him to keep it down. “Okay. My job here is done. Now I know you’ll be okay while I’m away.”

  
“What do you mean?”

  
His eyebrows shot up. “Uh… I didn’t tell you?” He looked like he was completely aware that he hadn’t. “I’m going to France after graduation.”

  
“Like… an end-of-the-school-year trip?”

  
“Like I’m moving to Paris. I have an apprenticeship lined up.”

  
“What?”

  
“It’ll be just a second, blondie. You won’t even miss me.” Tendou smiled and Yachi sniffled. She hadn’t even felt the tears come. “I’ll be back in time to walk you down the aisle to get your high school diploma.”

  
“It’s a graduation, Tendou, not a wedding,” Kiyoko said, smoke coming out of her mouth as she spoke.

  
“And you’re not my dad.”

  
“Blondie, that hurts.”

  
“Well, I’ll remind you all that this is girls’ night, so no boys allowed!”

  
Saeko took the phone from Kiyoko’s hand while Tendou begged. “Please, don’t hang up! I don’t want to miss this!”

  
“Everyone say good night, Tendou!”

  
“Good night, Tendou!”

  
Yachi waved. “Good night, Tendou, good night, Ushijima!”

  
“Good night, everyone!”

  
“Good night. Yachi, you know that drugs are-“

  
“Woops!” Saeko hang up. “So, what movie next?”


	2. I'm Willing To Wait For It

Waking up alone wasn’t the perfect start to Valentine’s Day that Tendou had hoped for, but it’s the one he got. Ushijima hadn’t left so much as a note saying where he’d gone off to, and he wasn’t answering his texts, so with some concern, but mostly hunger, he headed down for the cafeteria.

  
It was pretty early and a Saturday, which meant that it was deserted. When Tendou got there, even the counter was empty, so he decided to just walk into the kitchen. And there, behind the kitchen staff who greeted him, taking a tray out of an oven, was his missing boyfriend.

  
“Now stick this in to see if it’s cooked all the way,” Reon said, handing him a toothpick.

  
“It is clean.”

  
“Then we’re all done!” Reon took off his apron and turned towards the hooks, finding Tendou as he did. “Uh... Wakatoshi?”

  
He turned around and his lips parted, which meant he was extremely surprised. “Tendou?”

  
“What’s this?”

  
Reon left his apron and started to walk out. “I was never here.”

  
“Good morning?”

  
“Happy Valentine’s Day, guys!” was the last thing he said before disappearing.

  
“Am I dreaming? You’re cooking?”

  
“I wanted to bake for you. For Valentine’s Day.”

  
Tendou covered his mouth. “I love you so much.”

  
“I love you too,” Ushijima said as he hugged him.

  
“Aw, and Reon helped you?”

  
“He said he did not want the school to burn down. He also said I should say that I had done it on my own, but I think it is too late now.”

  
“Well, yeah.” Tendou peeked at the tray. “Red velvet cupcakes?”

  
“Red is the Valentine’s Day color and they match your hair too.”

  
“Stop it! You’re gonna make me cry!”

  
They plated them and took cups, coffee and milk, and went to have breakfast in their room.

  
“Okay, these are really good,” Tendou said, licking a finger clean, “like, really good.”

  
“Thank you.” They were sitting at their desks, Tendou’s legs straightened over Ushijima’s, who rested a hand on his knee. “I wanted to do something special for our last Valentine’s Day together.”

  
“Oh, c’mon!” Tendou forced a laugh. “Don’t be a drama queen, we’ll have more Valentine’s! It’s just two years!”

  
“Two years is a long time.”

  
“But we’ll be talking all the time! And we can visit each other. It’ll be over before you know it.” Ushijima looked away. “What?”

  
“Nothing.”

  
He took another cupcake, but Tendou knew he was lying. “Hey. What is it?”

  
Ushijima put the cupcake back. Tendou had learned by now to recognize the little details in his expression or his voice that betrayed his emotions, and that ‘nothing’ had had a tone that meant he was doubting himself or feeling insecure. It wasn’t a tone that Tendou got to hear a lot, and he’d be glad if he never had to hear it again. “Are you going to break up with me?”

  
Tendou took his hands. They were shaking slightly. “What are you talking about? Of course not!”

  
“And when you go to France?”

  
He shook his head. “Never. Why would you even think that?”

  
“You are moving to another country. Maybe you do not want to go away with a boyfriend who you are barely going to see. Maybe you want to see other people.”

  
“I don’t.”

  
“You said last night that I was boring. Maybe I will be even more boring to you when you are away.”

  
Tendou got up from his chair and sat on top of him, making Ushijima look him in the eye again. “I meant it in a good way! You’re boring and I’m crazy. We have to stay together so we can balance each other.” He pressed a finger to both corners of his lips, lifting them up into a smile. That tended to make him actually smile, but when he let up, he was still frowning. “I don’t want to be with anyone else, Wakatoshi. And we will see each other a lot. We’re going to Skype every day and I’ll fly here whenever I can. And you too.” He turned towards his desk and opened the drawer, taking out an envelope. “Here. This is my Valentine’s Day present.”

  
Tendou leaned back against Ushijima’s desk so he’d have room to open it, resting on his elbows. He took out the plane tickets and blinked, looking at Tendou again. “Are you crazy?”

  
“Literally just told you that.” Tendou winked at him. “I’m not letting you go, Wakatoshi.”

  
“But I am going to be busy too. I do not know when I will be able to go.”

  
“You can sneak away for a weekend.” Tendou tapped at the box where the date was printed. “Like, on my birthday.”

  
He was shaking his head in disbelief. “I love you.”

  
“I love you too.” Ushijima embraced him and Tendou threw his arms over his shoulders. “And you thought I was gonna break up with you… And here I am, boyfriend of the year, flying you out to Paris!”

  
“Thank you.”

  
“So you’ll come?”

  
“Of course.”

  
Ushijima rested his forehead against Tendou’s collarbone and Tendou started playing with his hair. “I know two years is asking a lot.”

  
“I will wait.”

  
Tendou smacked his tongue and held him tighter. “You know what the worst part’s gonna be? Sleeping alone. I don’t think I remember the last time I didn’t fall asleep in your arms.”

  
“It was went you went home for Thanksgiving.”

  
“Well, I meant that rhetorically, but thanks for knowing that off the top of your head.”

  
“I missed you.” Ushijima raised his head again, met his lips. “And I will miss you, but I will wait.”

  
“And if you get tired of waiting, that’s okay.” Ushijima leaned away to look at his face. Tendou just shrugged. “I’ll understand.”

  
“You are the only one for me, Satori.” Tendou hung his head, but Ushijima put a hand on the side of his face to lift it back up. “I would wait for you forever. I am yours.”

  
“Stop it. God.” Tendou hid his face in the crook of his neck and Ushijima pulled him closer. “You’re gonna make me rethink it if you keep talking like that.”

  
“Would I be selfish if I kept talking, then?”

  
Tendou kissed him, pressing himself against Ushijima and making the chair creak dangerously. They still had a month and a half together, but it was starting to feel like they were already out of time. “I’m yours too, Wakatoshi.” Ushijima closed his eyes. His chest was heaving after the kiss and Tendou laid a hand over his racing heart. “No one knows me like you do, and I don’t want anyone else to. I don’t want anyone else, period. And now let’s talk about something else before I cry.”

  
“What about?” He asked while he dried his eyes.

  
Tendou kissed one eyelid, then the other. “Anything else. You’re leaving too. Have you made a decision?”

  
“Not yet.”

  
“I still vote Karasuno.” Tendou snorted. “They have three alphas now, for God’s sake. What do they feed those guys?”

  
“But the pack is small.”

  
“They’re resilient though.” Ushijima nodded and Tendou leaned away again. “I don’t know. The more you wait, the worse it’ll be. We’re leaving a mess behind regardless, but I think the sooner you name a successor, the less problematic things are going to get. You know, if you’re still around while people get used to the idea.”

  
“Leading the whole prefecture is a lot of work for a pack with a total of sixteen people, if you count the humans. And one who has not been involved with the rest of the packs until less than a year ago.”

  
“That’s a plus, honestly. They don’t have history and drama with the other packs.” Ushijima gave him a slow blink. Tendou appreciated the sass. “If you mean the Aoba Johsai stuff, Oikawa’s leaving too, so that drama’s gone.”

  
“That is just another problem. Another pack without an alpha.”

  
“I already gave you a solution for that one.”

  
“I will talk to him, but I honestly do not see your idea happening. But that is the least of our problems. Worst case scenario there, the Aoba Johsai pack dissolves and regroups in different packs. Worst case scenario for a leaderless prefecture, war breaks to become the next king.”

  
“You know my real opinion on the subject. If you can’t make up your mind, just tell them Miyagi’s a democracy now.”

  
“Wolves do not do democracy. They do survival of the fittest.”

  
Tendou shrugged. “We also move around and change packs all the time. You’re gonna go from prefecture leader to just another alpha in the middle of nowhere, Tokyo. I’m gonna be effectively an omega for two years unless I find someone who can put up with me. They’ll get used to it.”

  
“Unless they do not.”

  
“Let them work it out.”

  
“It will get messy.”

  
“It always gets messy. It’ll just be not our mess to clean up anymore.”

  
“Okay, enough.” Ushijima grabbed a cupcake and held it before Tendou’s mouth. “I do not want to talk work on Valentine’s Day. Today is just for us.”

  
Tendou laughed and put his hand over Ushijima's before taking a bite of the cupcake. “Yeah, I had many other ideas for how to spend the day.” He gave him another wink and this time, Ushijima did smile.


	3. The Kids Are Alright

Asahi looked around him. The neon-lit blue room was making him dizzy, but he seemed to be safe for now. He ran for the next cover and tried to find movement, but there was nothing. He nodded, hyped himself up, and took off towards a corridor. A red laser appeared in front of him. He threw himself to the ground like he was going to save a volleyball, but a sound let him know he’d been hit.

  
“Gotcha!”

  
Asahi found Suga still aiming his laser tag gun at him. “I think it’s a little unfair that I’m the only one here who’s not a werewolf. Just saying.”

  
“You saw me earlier and didn’t even try to shoot,” Suga said, helping him up. “You’re just bad a laser tag.”

  
“I don’t want to shoot at anyone!”

  
“Never change, Asahi.” Suga’s vest made the sound too. He looked down at the changed lights and then at Daichi, who hid his gun behind him. “My love? You betray me like this?”

  
“We’re playing laser tag.”

  
“And you betray me like this?” Asahi laughed at him. Karma really worked sometimes. “Let’s find Noya and help him take Daichi down.”

  
“That’s not fair!”

  
“Shut up, traitor.”

  
Daichi looked at Asahi. “I didn’t do anything to you!”

  
“But if someone’s going to win, it’s going to be my boyfriend.”

  
“You’ve known me longer!”

  
“Listen, you’re going into the police academy.” Asahi said, resting the gun on his shoulder. “If you can’t even win a laser tag game, then maybe you should come up with another career path.”

  
“Ouch.”

  
“He’s right.”

  
“Koshi!” Daichi shook his head and turned to leave. “I’m winning and then you’re all inviting me to lunch.”

  
“We’ll see about that!” Noya yelled before shooting at him. He missed and Daichi disappeared. “Dang it.”

  
Much to their chagrin, Daichi won that round. They all won at least once, which made Asahi very proud of himself, but Daichi ended up winning the most, so they did have to pay for him at lunch.

  
“Best Valentine’s Day ever,” Daichi said before putting a bunch of fries into his mouth.

  
“Have you seen that picture of Yachi and Saeko on her bike?” asked Noya.

  
“Yeah,” Daichi said, “I’m scared for her.”

  
“Well, Kiyoko was there too.”

  
Noya crossed his arms. “We should do a boys’ night to get back at them!”

  
“I could use a face mask,” said Asahi, touching his face.

  
“And I loved laser tag," Noya continued, "but I think Kageyama and Hinata’s plan was cooler.”

  
“Because it was your plan.”

  
“I want to go too!”

  
Asahi pulled him closer. “But last time we went, I got hurt.”

  
“I’ll ask Tanaka, then.” He gasped and took his phone out. “Maybe we could all go together to celebrate we’re gonna be third-years! I’m gonna text them.”

  
“What better way to celebrate you’re the adults of the team than by going out to a trampoline park?” said Suga sarcastically.

  
“Exactly!”

  
“They’re going to be the adults now…” Daichi turned to his boyfriend. “I feel like the gym will go up in flames as soon as we’re not there.”

  
Suga put an arm around his waist. “They have Ennoshita. Have some faith in our kids.”

  
Asahi thought Daichi didn’t look any less scared as he grabbed more fries, but he found that he agreed with Suga. They would manage without them.

  
. . .

  
“So you liked it then?”

  
“I loved it! It was the best date ever! We have to do it again!”

  
“Okay,” Kageyama said, laughing. Hinata was still hyperactive after spending the morning jumping and teaching the little kids at the trampoline park how to do flips, but Kageyama was absolutely exhausted, so after having lunch at his home, he suggested they took a nap.

  
It was already dark out when Kageyama woke up. He hadn’t had a nightmare, which was a rare thing these days, but Hinata seemed to be having one. He’d been the reason he’d woken up. He was twitching in his sleep.

  
“Shoyo, wake up.” He brushed the hair out of his eyes. “Shoyo?”

  
He was muttering something unintelligible. Kageyama snaked an arm under his back and pushed him up so he’d be sitting. He finally blinked awake. His eyes went really wide for a second, his hands shot to look for a wound that wasn’t there anymore. Kageyama pressed his hands against his chest with one of his own and brought the other to his face.

  
“It’s okay. We’re okay.”

  
“Did I wake you up? I'm sorry.”

  
“It’s fine. Come here.” Kageyama pulled him down with him. Hinata made himself comfortable on his arm and looked up at him. “What’s wrong?”

  
“Just the nightmare. Show me your eyes again.” Kageyama turned them red. “That’s so cool.”

  
“Thanks.”

  
“Are you happy? About being an alpha now?”

  
“I guess. I wasn’t expecting it. And nothing’s changed, really, so I don’t know.”

  
“Do you like them better than your blue eyes?”

  
“I…” Kageyama himself had thought about it. A lot. “I don’t know. I mean, yeah? It feels like I didn’t deserve to get rid of them. I wanted them to be yellow for so long, but now that they’re not blue… I don’t know. I feel like I didn’t earn it.”

  
“But you did!” Hinata wormed his way up so his face was hovering over Kageyama’s. “You got them because you saved my life.”

  
“That’s what Suga said.”

  
“What other reason could it be?” Kageyama didn’t know what to answer. “You got your blue eyes because of what happened back then, and you got red eyes when you saved my life. I think you deserve them.”

  
“But-“

  
“No buts.”

  
Kageyama nodded. “Do you want to see what’s on TV?”

  
“Okay.” He didn’t move from on top of him.

  
“We have to get up for that.”

  
“Carry me.”

  
“Really?”

  
“What, you’re a cool, tough alpha now and you can’t even carry me downstairs?”

  
Kageyama smiled mischievously. “Oh, I can.” He grabbed Hinata’s waist and hoisted him over one shoulder.

  
“But I meant in your arms, not like I’m a sack of potatoes!”

  
“You should have specified.”

  
“I’d rather walk then!”

  
“Too late.”

  
. . .

  
The doorbell to Yamaguchi’s house rang when he was almost ready. He run to his mirror to fix his hair, but he didn’t make it to his bedroom door before Tsuki opened it. “Sorry, I’m ready!”

  
“Here,” Tsuki said, handing him a bouquet of red roses. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

  
Yamaguchi took it in unsteady hands. “But you don’t like Valentine’s Day!”

  
“But you do.”

  
“But you already agreed to go out on a date with me! You didn’t have to bring me flowers!”

  
“But I wanted to.” He raised his other hand. “Your mom gave me a vase.”

  
“Wait, let me take a picture first.” He looked up to Tsuki with hopeful eyes. “Would you be in it?”

  
Tsuki didn’t look too pleased about it, but he didn’t say no. Yamaguchi readied the selfie and thought about asking him to smile, the decided against it. He didn’t want to push his luck. “Okay, three, two, one.” Right before he tapped to snap the picture, Tsuki kissed his cheek.

  
Yamaguchi was still in shock when Tsuki said, “send it to me.”

  
“This is my new favorite picture.”

  
Tsuki looked at it in his own phone and smiled. “Mine too.”

  
“Thank you for the roses,” Yamaguchi said, standing on his tiptoes for a kiss.

  
“Thank you for you.”

  
Yamaguchi chuckled and hugged the bouquet. “Okay, let’s put them in the vase and go!”

  
They spent the afternoon at the Natural History Museum. Yamaguchi already knew more about dinosaurs than he’d even thought he’d want to, but he could still spend hours hearing Tsuki talk about them. When they finished walking around the exhibition, they picked up their coats and bags and headed for the river. They saw Yachi and Kyotani sitting next to the water, two bikes on the grass behind them, but they walked past, looking for the perfect place to set up their picnic.

  
Yamaguchi laid down the tablecloth and they brought out the food they’d prepared. Tsuki set out candles and started lighting them up. “We didn’t talk about candles! That’s so nice!”

  
“Well, I can have my own ideas.”

  
Yamaguchi waited until he didn’t have an open flame in his hands to hold them. “I love you. Thank you for celebrating Valentine’s Day this year.”

  
“Don’t thank me. It’s been a… rough year.”

  
“Yeah,” he laughed earnestly, “you could say that.”

  
“I love you too.”

  
Yamaguchi felt speechless watching the tiny flames dance on his glasses, so he just closed his eyes and kissed him.


	4. Endgame

“I’m going to the bathroom. Make yourself at home.”

  
Iwaizumi nodded and walked into Oikawa’s room, as familiar to him as his own. He hung his coat on a hook behind the door and then opened the drawer Oikawa had cleared for him to leave some clothes in, so he didn't have to pack a bag every time he stayed over, and he took out his pajamas and left them on his bedside table. He looked at himself in the mirror to check he still looked alright. He’d dressed up for their fancy dinner date but he was looking a little disheveled now, so he touched up his hair, fixed his shirt, took a deep breath.

  
He started to pace. There were a bunch of volleyballs on a basket next to Oikawa’s desk, so he took one and started bouncing it from hand to hand. He saw the Spanish textbook on the desk. With a sigh, Iwaizumi set the ball down and leafed through it. Oikawa was more than halfway done, passages highlighted, exercises completed. Under the book there was a folder that he was all too aware of. It held the contract, the plane ticket, the apartment lease, everything Oikawa would use to leave for Argentina in less than two months. Like every time he saw it, he swallowed the urge to burn it.

  
“I’m back,” said Oikawa, closing the door behind him. Iwaizumi let go of the book and stared at him like a deer caught in headlights, hearing the ruffling of the pages and the light thud of the cover falling into place. Oikawa gave him a small smile that faded quick. “Let’s not tonight.”

  
“I didn’t say anything.”

  
“Good. You look hotter when you shut up.”

  
Iwaizumi crossed his arms. “Are you trying to make me mad to distract me?”

  
“Is it working?”

  
“Only until I realized.”

  
Oikawa sat on his bed. “I just don’t want to see you sad tonight.”

  
“And I don’t want you to go.” Oikawa looked away and Iwaizumi walked up to him. “I want you to go make your dream come true,” he said softly, “I want you to be happy. But I also don’t want you to go.”

  
“I know.”

  
“Do you think you’ll ever come back?”

  
Oikawa let his head fall against Iwaizumi’s stomach. “I don’t know. It’s not that I don’t want to but… I don’t know what’ll happen.” He looked up to him. “Are you sure you’ll never come live with me in Argentina?”

  
Iwaizumi slowly run a finger from the middle of his forehead down to the tip of his nose. “I don’t know either.”

  
Oikawa hid his face against him again. “I love you.”

  
“You love my belly button?”

  
“Yes.”

  
Iwaizumi smiled and turned his face to the ceiling. He let the light from the lamp burn his eyes until he couldn’t stand it anymore and then he looked at the wall of pictures over Oikawa’s bed. He blinked until he could see it. He was in most of the pictures. He took a step back and Oikawa sat up straight again. When he started walking towards the door, he went to get up. “No, stay there.”

  
“Okay.” He sat back down. Iwaizumi slipped a hand into a pocket on the inside of his jacket and hid it behind his back. “What’s that?” Iwaizumi stood before him again. He looked silently into those brown eyes until Oikawa frowned. “Are you okay?” After a deep breath, Iwaizumi got down on one knee. “What are you doing?” He brought his hand in front of him and Oikawa saw the ring box. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  
“Listen-”

  
“Get up. You’re insane.”

  
“Will you listen to me?”

  
“Hajime-“

  
“Please, just-“

  
“Don’t do this to me.”

  
His tone gave him pause. “Tooru?”

  
“Get up, okay? This is crazy.” Iwaizumi just looked at him, waiting for Oikawa to stop blabbering. “I don’t know what you think this will do, but it’s unfair. Let’s just pretend it didn’t happen. Just get up and-“

  
“Shut the fuck up.” He did. His fists were clutching the covers. “It’s not what it looks like.”

  
“Good, because it looks like you’re proposing.”

  
“Will you let me explain? Please?” Oikawa pursed his lips. “It’s not for right now. But I…” He’d practiced words that had fled his mind now. He caught the pictures behind Oikawa. “My earliest memories are of you. I literally can’t remember life without you. And I’ve always known we’d grow old together, but it took me a little longer to realize that I wanted to do that as your husband. But now I know.” He opened the box, which held on its cushion a simple silver band. “See, it’s not even a proper ring, it’s just- it’s like a promise. I don’t know what’s gonna happen in the meantime. You’re going to Argentina and I’m staying here for college. Maybe we’ll even break up. I don’t know and I don’t care. Because I can’t see myself growing old with anyone else. I think that, whatever happens, we’ll come back to each other. That in the end, it’s gonna be you and me. So if you don’t agree, then break my heart already, but if there’s any chance that you’ll want to marry me at some point in our lives, then put the fucking ring on.”

  
Oikawa ripped the box from his hands. He slipped the ring onto his finger, closed the box and threw it behind him, making it bounce off the wall and land on his bed. He grabbed his face with both hands, the metal cold against Iwaizumi’s flaming cheek. Oikawa got on the floor in front of him and kissed him so hard their noses clashed painfully against each other. Iwaizumi pulled him closer, letting his other knee down.

  
When Oikawa pulled away, he was feeling dizzy. “I don’t know what my schedule’s going to be like, or yours. And we’re going to be so busy.”

  
“I’ll make time for you.”

  
“We’re going to be very lonely.”

  
Iwaizumi kissed his neck. “We’ll fly to each other.”

  
“What if you meet someone else in college?” Iwaizumi left another kiss below Oikawa’s ear and a hand ran through his hair, coming to rest at the nape of his neck, making him shiver.

  
“If you want to see other people, do whatever you want. I don’t want you to be miserable because of me.” Iwaizumi took Oikawa’s left hand and ran his thumb over the ring. “And if you change your mind, if you meet someone that you love more than me, then you tell me and it’s done. But when you come back, or when I go there, or wherever we end up together again, if you still love me, then I’m asking you to marry me again, with the diamond ring that you deserve.”

  
Oikawa shook his head. “I don’t think I could ever find someone I love more than you. But it’s okay if you do.”

  
“I won’t.”

  
“You’re talking like it couldn’t happen, but you never know.”

  
Iwaizumi smiled at him. “It couldn’t happen.”

  
“You can’t be sure.”

  
“I am.” He brought him in for a tender kiss. “It’s you, Tooru. It’s always been you.”

  
Oikawa just stared at him. Iwaizumi looked right back, at his messed up hair, his intense eyes, the brain behind them always going at the speed of light. He’d been sitting so still that it almost surprised him when Oikawa started kissing him again. “Wait. We have to get you a ring too, so everyone knows that you’re taken.”

  
“I got two. It’s under the cushion, in the box you almost launched into space.”

  
Oikawa scrambled up to his bed and Iwaizumi got on it too. Oikawa held the ring between two fingers. “Iwaizumi Hajime, will you marry me?”

  
“Yes.”

  
“Come on, give me the hand.”

  
He held it out for him. “You didn’t let me put the ring on you.”

  
“Well, I’m never taking it off,” he said while he placed Iwaizumi’s, “so I hope you get over it.”

  
“I think I’ll survive.”

  
Oikawa put his hand next to his and looked at their rings. “Did you really have to say ‘fucking’ right at the end of your romantic speech?”

  
“Did you really have to interrupt me seventeen times before you let me do my romantic speech?”

  
“You’re exaggerating, but I’ll forgive you if you forgive me.”

  
Iwaizumi put his ringed hand on Oikawa’s chest and shoved him down, moving up to straddle him. He said against his neck, “I think I know how to make it up to you.”

  
“Wait,” Oikawa pushed him up and started undoing the buttons on his shirt, “take this shirt off. I hate it.”

  
“Yeah?”

  
“I don’t want to look at it anymore.”

  
“You bought it for me.”

  
“Well, I’m returning it.”

  
“I see.” He sat up so he could undo the last buttons. “Are you going to find something wrong with my pants too?”

  
“Really, I don’t know how you got out of the house dressed like this. Hideous.”

  
“You came over specifically to approve of my date outfit.”

  
“I must have hit my head on the way.”

  
“Well,” he started unbuttoning Oikawa’s shirt, “this is ugly as fuck too.”

  
Oikawa grabbed Iwaizumi’s wrists. “You take that back.”

  
“Only if you take that off.”

  
“I’m serious! This shirt is perfect and it fits me like a glove!”

  
“And I,” Iwaizumi whispered into his ear, “want it off.”


	5. Drunk In Love

Akaashi unplugged his headphones and set his electronic keyboard on the floor beside his bed. It had been over a month since the nogitsune ordeal, but he still had trouble falling asleep. And waking up. The sleeping experience, as a whole, was not that great anymore. So he’d taken to practicing piano right before going to sleep, to calm himself down. That’s why he hadn’t been hearing the serenading going on outside.

  
He walked up to his window, amused, but his half smile didn’t last. It wasn’t a neighbor being serenaded. It was Akaashi himself.

  
He threw the window open. “It’s almost midnight!”

  
“Finally! From the top!”

  
“You got it, bro!”

  
Strumming stopped and then started again. Bokuto was holding a flower that he’d clearly picked out of Akaashi’s neighbors’ garden and Kuroo was standing next to him before Akaashi’s door, playing an acoustic guitar very poorly. Sitting on the curb behind them was Kenma, who shot him an apologetic look.

  
“Stop it! People are trying to sleep, Kotaro.”

  
“Then come hang out with us!” He was clearly drunk, which meant that Kuroo couldn’t be far behind him in that department.

  
“Okay, but keep it down, please.”

  
“Okay! I love you!”

  
Akaashi shook his head at him. “I love you more.”

  
“What did you say?”

  
“I love you more!”

  
“Yes!” He high-fived Kuroo. He tried with Kenma, but he didn’t look up from his phone, so Bokuto high-fived himself.

  
Akaashi pondered getting dressed up again, since Bokuto was still wearing the clothes he’d had on for their Valentine’s Day date, but he didn’t want to risk him getting bored and forgetting that he wasn’t supposed to start annoying the whole street again, so he decided the gym clothes he wore to sleep would have to do.

  
“Akaashi!” Bokuto put the flower behind Akaashi's ear, lifted him up and spun them around. “I missed you.”

  
“We spent the day together.”

  
“We haven’t been together for like three hours already!” He pouted. “You didn’t miss me?”

  
“Of course I did.”

  
Bokuto set him down. “I wrote you a song!”

  
“That’s amazing, but let’s go somewhere else where we don’t bother people, okay?”

  
“Okay!”

  
They went to a nearby park and sat down on the grass. There wasn’t much light, but their spot was away from any paths that could lead people to them, so they let their eyes shine.

  
“I tried to stop them, but you know how they get,” Kenma said, sitting next to him against a tree. Kuroo and Bokuto were ‘whispering’ to each other, getting ready for the performance.

  
“I’m surprised they managed to drag you out here.”

  
“Well, they didn’t drag me, Kuroo picked me up and carried me. So I didn’t have much of a say in it.”

  
“I see.”

  
“Did they wake you up?”

  
“No.”

  
“Yeah, me either.”

  
Akaashi looked at Kenma. He always looked tired or bored or both, but there was a new kind of weariness to him. “It’s been hard to sleep. You know, since.”

  
“Yeah.” Kenma didn’t meet his eyes. He’d been staring at the unlit screen of his phone since they sat down. “Um. If you ever want to talk about it, we could. You know, since we both went through it.”

  
That caught Akaashi off guard. Kenma wasn’t someone who seemed to like talking in general, so if he was suggesting that to him, it meant he desperately needed to talk about what happened to someone.

  
Akaashi looked at Kuroo, who was tuning the guitar. Well, actually, he was just further detuning it, but he seemed to think he was doing a good job. So Kenma didn’t think he could talk about it with him. He could relate. When he tried bringing it up to Bokuto, it wasn’t a conversation that got him anywhere. Kuroo probably felt just as guilty as his boyfriend of what happened, no matter how many times they tried to tell them that it wasn’t in any way their fault.

  
“Yeah, I’d really like that.”

  
“Cool.”

  
“Okay, we’re ready!”

  
Kuroo started strumming a chord that didn’t exist, and Bokuto looked at Akaashi. He smiled at him, gave him a wink, but then his face fell. “I forgot the lyrics.”

  
“Just improvise it again, bro.”

  
“Okay, okay.”

  
“The first line was ‘Akaashi’.”

  
“Right!” Bokuto clapped and pointed at Kuroo. “I’m ready, hit it!”

  
The terrible music started again. There was no way anyone could sing in tune with that, and Bokuto sang off-key to match.

  
“Akaaaaaashiiiiii…”

  
“You got this, bro!”

  
“Your name iiiis… Keijiiiii…”

  
“Damn right it is!”

  
“And rhyming iiiiit isn’t easyyyy…”

  
“But he just did,” Kuroo whistled while he strummed away, “how talented is my boy?”

  
“But you are soooo,” Bokuto growled, “sexyyyyy…”

  
“Oh, God,” Akaashi covered his eyes. Kenma tried to muffle his snort way too late.

  
“Aaaaaaakaashiiiii!”

  
“That’s verse number two for you, baby!”

  
“You’re sweeeeeet, like mochiiii…”

  
“So sweet!”

  
“And… I love you veryyyyy much-yyyyy…”

  
“He does!”

  
“Um,” Bokuto turned to Kuroo. He shrugged and kept playing. “And you’re so beautiful, Akaashiiiiiii!” He tried to do a riff, his voice climbing into falsetto, and Kuroo made one final, triumphant strum before starting to clap for Bokuto.

  
“That was so good, bro!”

  
“Did you like it, Akaashi?”

  
He had to bite his lip to stop laughing. “I loved it.”

  
“Boom!” He fist-bumped Kuroo before throwing himself on Akaashi. “I love you!”

  
“I love you more.”

  
“Bro, I’m gonna do one,” Kuroo blew a kiss in Kenma’s direction and started playing again. “Kenmaaaa…”

  
“No,” he took the guitar away from him, “no, you’re not.”

  
“I didn’t know you had a guitar, Kuroo.”

  
“I didn’t.”

  
Kenma turned to Akaashi. “Wait, it’s not Bokuto’s?”

  
“Well, we haven’t decided who’s keeping it yet!”

  
“Where did you get it from?”

  
The two inebriated werewolves looked at each other for a long time. “I… don’t know.”

  
“Yeah, I don’t remember either!”

  
“You play!” Bokuto said, taking the stolen instrument from Kenma and leaving it on Akaashi’s lap. “Pretty please?”

  
“I don’t play guitar.”

  
“But you’re, like, a music genius. When we go to music stores you can always play any instrument I point to!”

  
“I can figure out how to play them on a very basic level, but that’s not really playing.”

  
“But I said pretty please!”

  
Akaashi sighed and took the acoustic guitar. He tuned it by ear and then he tested out the three chords he knew by heart and started plucking them out, string by string.

  
“Woah,” Bokuto looked at him wide-eyed and Akaashi felt so in love that his heart actually hurt a little bit, like it had been squeezed. “You’re, like, magical.”

  
“It’s nothing special.”

  
“It’s magic!” He was staring at his fingers while he played. “Your hands are so beautiful.”

  
“You’re just saying that because you know that I’m insecure about them.”

  
“And I don’t get it!” He moved to lie on his stomach on the ground and get a closer view of them. “They’re so perfect. Like you.”

  
“Stop.”

  
“I love you.”

  
“And I love you more.”

  
“I’m going to miss you so much,” Kuroo said through sobs. He was holding Kenma in a hug, and the blond was patting his back, trying to calm him down.

  
“We’ll still be living next door.”

  
“But I’ll see you less while I’m in class!”

  
“Kuroo, not now.”

  
Akaashi had stopped playing without realizing, and picked it back up, but Bokuto was already looking sad. He’d dropped his head onto his crossed arms, so Akaashi put the guitar aside and buried his fingers into his hair.

  
“Kotaro?”

  
“I’m gonna miss you so so so so much!”

  
“We’ve already talked about this.” Akaashi found his chin and pushed his face up. He had a blade of grass stuck to his eyebrow and Akaashi brushed it off. “We’re going to see each other every weekend. Whenever you can’t come to Tokyo, I’ll go to Osaka. We’ll just be a train away from each other.”

  
“But I want to see you every day!”

  
“You will.”

  
“But through a screen! I can’t kiss you through a screen!”

  
“Can you kiss me right now?”

  
Bokuto smiled from ear to ear. “Well, if you ask me like that…”


	6. Don’t Make Me Dream Of You

When Atsumu opened his eyes, he was sitting on Sakusa’s bed. The owner of said bed was lying on it, in his flannel pajamas, waiting. “Finally!”

  
“Hey, you’re the one who took forever to fall asleep.”

  
“Sorry,” he sat up to kiss him, “I was excited. Happy Valentine’s Day!”

  
“I think it might already be tomorrow, but yeah,” Atsumu scooted closer to Sakusa and put his arms around his waist, “happy Valentine’s Day.”

  
He left two kisses above his brow, one for each mole, and when he leaned away from Sakusa, the scenery had already changed. They were still on his bed, but instead of his bedroom, it now stood in the middle of a field. Blades of grass swung with the wind around them and thousands of stars shone above.

  
“Where are we?”

  
Atsumu lay down. “It’s close to my school. We come here for our runs. Do you like it?”

  
Sakusa had his face towards the clear night sky. “Wow.”

  
“I’ll take that as a yes.”

  
“We don’t get many stars in Tokyo,” he said, lying down too and taking Atsumu’s hand. “This is beautiful.”

  
“Yeah,” Atsumu said as he stared at him, “you’re right.”

  
Sakusa saw him looking and rolled his eyes. “That’s so cliché.”

  
“Yeah? You watch a lot of romance then, to know your clichés so well?”

  
“Read.” He got closer so their noses were touching. “But those stories can’t hold a candle to this.”

  
Atsumu was blushing, but he came up with a genius solution for Sakusa not to notice: he started kissing him again. “So, how was your day?”

  
They talked and kissed and looked at the stars, and by the time they said goodbye and Atsumu’s eyes opened to his very not romantic ceiling, it was definitely not Valentine’s Day anymore. He got all the sleep he could before practice, which was not nearly enough, but at least Osamu didn’t pick on him too much during breakfast. Or maybe he did but Atsumu was too tired to process it. After practice, though, Osamu said something weird.

  
“Let’s hit the showers.”

  
“It’s Sunday.” Atsumu threw his gym bag over his shoulder. “I’m showering at home.”

  
“You fucking stink, dude. But do whatever you want.” He picked his bag up and headed for the changing room. “I’m showering here, you can go home alone.”

  
Atsumu started following him. “I didn’t even bring a change of clothes!”

  
“I packed some for you.”

  
“What the hell, ‘Samu?”

  
“What? I always have clothes for you in my bag.” He brought a plastic bag out and handed it to Atsumu. “Remember that time it was raining like crazy and you slipped in front of the school and fell in a huge puddle and you had to go to class all day with a muddied uniform because it was too late to go back home?”

  
“Yeah, it was awful and embarrassing.”

  
“Yeah, yeah, hey, Suna!” Osamu turned around. “Do you have pictures from-“

  
“Already sending them. And the video of him walking into the club room and everyone laughing at him.”

  
Atsumu’s phone vibrated. “Did you have to send it to the group chat?”

  
Osamu was already gone when Atsumu got out of the shower, so he put on the clothes he’d gotten for him and walked out into the gym.

  
He located his twin quickly, still wearing the uniform. “What the hell? You didn’t shower?”

  
“It’s Sunday,” he said with a smirk, “I’m showering at home.”

  
“Then what was that about!?”

  
“Surprise.” Atsumu turned to find Sakusa sitting on a bench next to Suna. He got up, but Atsumu was nailed to his spot, so Sakusa was the one to close the distance between them. “Are you okay?”

  
“Just… in shock? Hi?”

  
“Hi.” Atsumu could tell Sakusa was smiling under his face mask.

  
“But it’s not even Valentine’s Day!”

  
“I couldn’t make it yesterday,” he took his hand, “but I’m here now. I hope that’s okay.”

  
“That’s amazing, I’m just still… reeling.”

  
“You spent the whole day wearing a dirty uniform? The more things I find out about you, the less I understand why I like you.”

  
Atsumu glared at Suna. “What? He deserves to know.”

  
“It’s okay,” Sakusa said, pulling his mask down, “somehow, I still like you.” He kissed Atsumu. When he went to pull away, Atsumu held his face to continue the kiss.

  
“Gross. I’m going home.”

  
“You’re just jealous,” Atsumu said, sticking his tongue out. “Single twin!”

  
“You’re welcome for helping you get ready for your date.”

  
Atsumu quickly tried to look angelic as he smiled at him. “Thank you, ‘Samu!” He turned back to Sakusa. “What do you wanna do?”

  
“I brought lunch.” He walked away from him, towards a basket Atsumu had missed. “You pick the place.”

  
“Okay. Done.” His phone vibrated again and he checked it. This time, it was a private chat from Suna. Pictures of his and Sakusa’s reunion just now. “You think you’re paparazzi or something, man?”

  
“We didn’t have these things two hundred years ago,” he said, shaking his phone. “This team might not want memories, but I do.” He got up to leave. “Don’t you?”

  
“I like them,” Sakusa said, flipping through them. “Send them to me. Or,” he looked at Suna, “I could give you my number, actually. You can send them to me, and if you have more embarrassing pictures of Atsumu-“

  
“Nope, we’re leaving. Bye, Suna!”

  
“You can ask Osamu for my number.”

  
“Man, I have no friends…”

  
Atsumu asked Sakusa to let him carry the picnic basket and they started the walk to the same spot they’d had their date last night.

  
“Do you recognize it?”

  
Sakusa smiled under his mask again. “Yes. It’s perfect.”

  
After lunch, Sakusa brought out a box of chocolates for dessert. He threw one for Atsumu to catch with his mouth and then Atsumu threw one for him. They both got them.

  
“It’s not that fun when we both have supernatural reflexes, is it?”

  
Sakusa nodded and picked another one up. “Let’s try with your eyes closed.”

  
He obeyed and opened his mouth, waiting. He tried to hear the chocolate cutting through the air, to guess where it would fall, but so far it was only the sound of fabric against the tablecloth, probably Sakusa shifting to get a better angle. Then, Sakusa’s mouth was on his. Atsumu felt the chocolate clash against his teeth and he bit half of it, getting into the kiss.

  
Sakusa swallowed and nodded. “Nice catch.”

  
“Nice throw.” Sakusa cleaned the chocolate off his lips with a napkin, then folded it over to wipe Atsumu’s mouth. “How come you’re so… that way about cleanliness, but you don’t care about kissing me? Because, not to freak you out, but I’m probably not the cleanest person there is. I’m not sure I remembered to brush my teeth after breakfast.”

  
Sakusa frowned. “Well, thanks for telling me that.” He turned around and lay down with his head on Atsumu’s thigh. He was looking at the clouds. “I don’t know what it is about you. It’s like when I’m playing volleyball. I like it so much that I forget about everything else.” He met his eyes. “You’re like volleyball to me.”

  
Atsumu's heart skipped a beat. “That’s super romantic. Thanks.”

  
“Do you want to know why I was so upset after what happened at camp?”

  
Atsumu wiggled his eyebrows. “Because I’m so hot it was driving you crazy?”

  
“Because you were my first kiss.”

  
“Wait, what? In the dream? Or when we kissed in January?”

  
“Yes.”

  
“How? With your…” he looked at his gorgeous face, his sculpted arms, not finding the words, “everything, how in hell was that your first kiss?”

  
“Well, I had never liked someone enough to want to kiss them. In the dream, it felt safe to try it, but then I was obviously mortified. And then, after the pact, it felt right? Maybe I just read too much romance, but I really thought that's where that was going, but then I thought for a second there that you didn’t like me back and… yeah, the beginning of this was a rollercoaster.” He’d been frowning, but his face relaxed. “But now I like kissing. Kissing’s nice. Kissing you, at least.”

  
Atsumu was still frowning. “But that’s not how a first kiss is supposed to go!”

  
“Is there a way they’re supposed to go?”

  
“Well… not like that!”

  
“How was yours?”

  
“Okay, it was also bad. It was playing Spin The Bottle. But I’m gonna fix it, okay? This is how your first kiss should have gone. Get up.”

  
They both got up and Sakusa gasped, pulling him aside. “Don’t stand with your shoes on the tablecloth! That’s where we eat!”

  
“But we’re done eating.” He shot him a look. “Okay, I’m sorry! God, you’re so much taller than me. Change of plans, sit down.” They did. “Actually, lie down.”

  
“A lot of instructions. Is that part of how the kiss should have gone?”

  
“No.” He turned Sakusa’s face so he was looking at the sky. “How it should have gone is, someone that you really liked would have taken you out on a cute date. Like a picnic date.”

  
“Uh-huh.”

  
“And you could have lain down with him to watch the clouds, maybe look for shapes or something. Look, that one looks like a heart.”

  
“It really doesn’t.”

  
“But it would’ve been cute if it did. At some point, he would turn to look at you,” Atsumu propped himself up on his elbow, “and he would tell you how beautiful you are, and how much he likes your curls, and the little moles above your eyebrow, and the lovey-dovey smile you have on right now, and how good you are at volleyball, and how much he missed being close to you in person, and how he likes you so much that, even if he wasn’t a kitsune, he would still dream of you every night, and he could keep going if he hadn’t lost track of what he was saying by looking at your lips and thinking of how bad he wants to kiss them. So, he would painfully look up from your mouth and into your eyes, and he would ask, ‘can I kiss you?’, and-“

  
“Yes.”

  
Atsumu tried to slowly lean down, but Sakusa didn’t want to wait. He sat up to get to the kiss faster, pulled on his jacket so Atsumu would get on top of him. Atsumu slipped a hand under Sakusa’s shirt and pressed it against the small of his back to get even closer to him. When they broke away to catch their breaths, Sakusa said, “okay. That was a pretty good first kiss.”

  
“Good. You deserved a pretty good first kiss.”

  
“How should the second kiss go, then?”

  
“Do I have to come up with another scenario?”

  
“No, dummy,” Sakusa pulled him down towards him, “I just want you to kiss me again.”

  
That, Atsumu could do.


	7. A Walk Of Shame To Remember (Epilogue)

Saeko had managed to drag Ukai out for Valentine’s Day after all. She had some of his friends’ numbers, the ones that came to watch the matches, and with their help, she’d convinced him to go out. As she run through her contacts, she’d also spied Tsukishima Akiteru’s number, and since she’d kinda had a crush on him in high school and he’d gone with them to watch his brother’s games, she’d been curious to see if he’d want to go out too. If he didn’t have other plans, if he was home from college. He didn’t, and he was.

  
“Of course I remembered you!”

  
He set his beer down and raised an eyebrow. “How would you remember me? I never even played on any official matches.”

  
“I saw you in the crowd, though. And at practice. You’re the one who’s lying! Why would you remember me?”

  
“Because I wasn’t playing, so I also looked around the crowd.” Either the lights of the club were playing with her or he was blushing.

  
“Aw,” Shimada nudged his arm, “somebody had a little crush on someone at this table.”

  
“Yeah, right.” Akiteru looked away and Saeko’s jaw dropped. “Excuse me? I had a crush on you! How dare you?”

  
“What?”

  
“Why didn’t you say anything?”

  
He threw his hands up. “Why would I have said anything? Why would you have wanted to date a loser who was barely on the volleyball team?”

  
“Uh, because you’re tall, and handsome, and you were my senior?” Saeko shook her head. “I would’ve dated you in a heartbeat.”

  
“She used the present tense for tall and handsome, by the way,” Takinoue said.

  
Saeko felt as if she’d been caught in a lie, but worse, because she’d been caught in a truth. “Well, yeah. I have functioning eyes.”

  
Akiteru’s mouth was just opening and closing without getting to the speaking part. Ukai said something into his ear. “D-do you want to go dance or something?”

  
Ukai snorted at that. “You weren’t supposed to say ‘or something’.”

  
Shimada laughed and almost dropped his drink. “You were fed the most basic line and you still messed it up?”

  
Akiteru squared his shoulders, stood up, and held a hand to Saeko. “Wanna dance?”

  
And that’s how she wound up waking up at midday, with a pounding headache, in Akiteru’s bed. The good news was that his parents were out for the weekend. The bad news was that he’d told her they had to be quiet because his brother and his brother's boyfriend were asleep, and judging by the time, it was unlikely they’d still be.

  
She got up to get dressed and Akiteru stirred. “Hey.”

  
Saeko looked up from digging around for her other sock. “Hey.”

  
“Shit.” He was looking at his phone.

  
“Yeah. Shit.”

  
“Uh… Do you want to have breakfast, or…”

  
“I just want to get out of here without my students seeing me.”

  
“Yeah, okay.” He dressed up too. “Okay, let’s, uh… try to be quiet.”

  
Saeko had her boots in her hand. “I can be very quiet, actually, so I think the safest way to go about this is that you tell me how to get out and I go alone. Less likely that they hear us if it’s just me.”

  
“Okay. Just go down the stairs and then to the right, and at the end of the corridor, to your left, you should see the front door.”

  
“Right, left, out,” she nodded, “got it.”

  
He touched her arm as she started to walk towards the door. “Wait! Um, if you ever wanted to, you know-“

  
“I’ll text you.” She went to leave and then thought better of it. She gave him a quick kiss. “It was cool.”

  
“Yeah! It was great!”

  
“We’ll talk. Bye.”

  
“Bye!”

  
She made her way down the stairs, silent as a cat. She had to walk past the kitchen, where she could hear noises, but she was confident in her sneaking abilities. But what Akiteru didn’t know, and Saeko didn’t remember in her hangover, was that his brother and his brother's boyfriend were both werewolves.

  
“Good morning, Akite-“ Yamaguchi stood frozen, holding a bag of chips. Saeko cursed internally and put a finger to her lips. He nodded, mouth hanging open.

  
Saeko turned to the left and got back to tiptoeing. At the end there was a door and, beyond it, a couch. She was going the wrong way. She kept cursing at herself in her head as she turned around.

  
“Tadashi, did you say som- Saeko?” She turned around slowly. “What are you…“

  
His question trailed off. Tsukishima looked around him, as if he was making sure he was in his own house. He looked back at her, tilting his head to one side. Then, his eyes opened very wide.

  
“Um…” Yamaguchi pointed behind him. “The front door’s that way.”

  
Saeko nodded vigorously at him. “Yeah, yeah, I noticed, thanks.” Since she’d been found out, she leaned against the wall to put her boots on. Tsukishima’s expression hadn’t changed. She wasn’t sure he’d blinked yet. “Well, I’ll see you tomorrow at practice.”

  
“Yeah,” Yamaguchi was looking worriedly at Tsukishima. “Have a nice day.”

  
She finally got out of the house and called Ukai straight away. “Saeko?”

  
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, shit, fuck.”

  
“Are you okay? Is anyone hurt?”

  
“Well, I might have scarred Tsukishima for life.”

  
He cackled. “Akiteru? What did you do?”

  
“No, the other one.”

  
Ukai lost it. She heard him slap the counter. “Shut up. He caught you guys?”

  
“Oh, God, no! Just me, doing the good old walk of shame. And Yamaguchi was there too.” She looked around, and thankfully, the day wasn’t gonna get worse. She knew how to get home from there. “God, I hope I never get them in my class.”

  
“So how was the night before that?”

  
“Good.” She smiled a little. “What about you? Did you end up finding someone?”

  
“No, I just went home.”

  
“But did you try? I asked you to try.”

  
“Yeah, I…” He couldn’t bring himself up to lie convincingly. “I don’t know. I wasn’t feeling it.”

  
“Well.” She was disappointed, but not surprised. “At least you didn’t have a mortifying start to your day.”

  
“Hey, it can only go up from there, right?”

  
“Thanks. Great way to jinx me.”

  
“I hope your day gets worse?”

  
“Wow, so I guess we’re not friends.”

  
Ukai sighed. “I don’t know what you want from me.”

  
“Talk to me while I walk home?”

  
“I’m at work.”

  
“And you must be super busy, seeing how you picked up at the first tone.”

  
“Because I thought it was an emergency!” Saeko didn’t say anything. “Okay, it’s dead in here. Tell me more about how you traumatized Tsukishima.”

  
“It’s not funny!” Now it was him who let her simmer in the silence. “Okay, it was pretty funny.”


End file.
